These lightly spiced pears in puff pastry are an easy, elegant dessert that comes together quickly, thanks to store-bought puff pastry and canned pears.
There's no fussing with homemade dough, and no peeling or coring fruit. Just a little bit of fun assembly and about 20 minutes of baking time!
I adapted this recipe from a childhood favourite, and my goal was to make this as simple to make as possible.
Recipe Highlights
- Servings: 4 individual desserts
- Time Commitment: 30 minutes of preparation and 18-20 minutes of baking time.
- Effort Required: Very easy! Mostly just assembling ingredients.
- Special Equipment: Pastry Brush (optional)
- Dietary Notes: Contains dairy and nuts.
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Ingredients and Substitutions
- Canned Pear Halves: Using canned pears cuts down the preparation time for this recipe significantly. If you'd rather use fresh pears, choose ripe Bartlett or Anjou pears, remove the stems, and peel them before using.
- Butter: I used salted butter for the spice glaze.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds a warm, sweet flavour to the butter glaze.
- Nutmeg: Adds a warm spice flavour to the glaze. Substitute with cinnamon.
- Brown Sugar: Adds a caramel note to the finished dessert. Substitute with white sugar, if needed.
- Lemon Zest: Adds brightness to cut through the butter in this dish.
- Puff Pastry: Store-bought pastry makes this recipe so easy to put together.
- Apricot Jam: Adds a sweet pop to this simple dessert. Substitute with peach jam, if needed.
- Pecan Halves: These are tucked into the top of each pear to mimic the stem. You can omit them, or replace them with a small piece of walnut instead.
- Turbinado sugar: This is a type of raw sugar with a coarse texture and a golden-brown colour. Substitute with Demerara sugar. (Optional)
This recipe has not been tested with all possible substitutions or variations. Making changes may alter the taste, texture, or overall outcome. If you try a different ingredient, please share in the comments!
See the recipe card for the complete ingredient list and recipe instructions.
Why I Make This Recipe
One of my favourite cookbooks when I was a kid was called 50 Recipes for Kids to Cook, and it had a recipe for "Puffy Pears".
That recipe called for fresh pears that you had to peel before using, and the pears were stuffed with chocolate. It was a fun recipe, but there was a lot of room for things to go wrong.
When you bake with fresh pears, you need to make sure they're ripe, or they just don't have enough sweetness. And peeling a slightly soft ripe pear isn't my favourite thing to do.
The type of pear matters too. When I used to make this recipe with fresh pears, I'd use Bartlett or Anjou pears, but switching to canned pears just makes everything so much easier.
I love using canned fruit in dessert recipes. The quality of the fruit doesn't change from season to season, and it cuts down on your prep time considerably.
An example of this is this sour cream peach pie made with canned peaches, instead of having to blanch and peel fresh peaches.
So here's my spin on that old pears in puff pastry recipe. I've made it as easy to make as possible, with no peeling or coring required. I changed up the filling too, replacing the chocolate with apricot jam, which tastes lighter and brighter.
How to Make Pears in Puff Pastry
While it looks like there are a lot of steps, this recipe actually comes together pretty quickly.
To begin, preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Step 1: Rest the pear halves on a paper towel to remove excess moisture.
Step 2: In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, vanilla extract, nutmeg, brown sugar, and lemon zest.
Step 3: Unfold the puff pastry sheet onto a piece of parchment paper, then cut the pastry into 4 equal pieces. Transfer the parchment (with the pastry) to your baking sheet.
Step 4: Spoon about a teaspoon of the apricot jam into the hollow of each pear half.
Step 5: Place each pear, filled side down, onto a square of puff pastry. Tuck a pecan half into the narrow top of each pear to act as a stem.
Step 6: Use a knife to score lightly around each pear. This will help the pastry rise around it.
Step 7: Brush the pears and pastry generously with the spiced butter.
Step 8: Sprinkle with half of the turbinado sugar, if using. Place the tray in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to chill.
Step 9: Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed up and golden brown. The sugar may melt and caramelize; that's normal.
I like to sprinkle the rest of the turbinado sugar onto the pears once the pastries have cooled down a bit. This adds sparkle and crunch to the finished dessert.
Tips for Success
- Dry your pears well. This helps to avoid soggy pastry.
- Let the pastry thaw properly. Pastry that isn't fully thawed may crack when you try to work with it. Leave it in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter for about 30 minutes.
- Don't skip the parchment paper. The spiced butter and melted jam can cause the pastry to stick to a bare baking pan.
- Chill the pastries for 15 minutes before baking. This helps to ensure that it will puff up while it's baking.
- Watch for colour near the end of baking. Every oven is a little different, so baking times can vary. Start checking the pastry for doneness around the 20-minute mark. Look for golden and puffed pastry before removing it from the oven.
Serve With
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, or at room temperature with whipped cream.
Make Ahead & Storage
If you want to make them ahead of time, allow them to cool fully after baking, then transfer to an airtight container. They can stay at room temperature for about a day, but the pastry will soften as it sits.
To reheat the pastries, place them in a 325°F oven for about 5 minutes.
Common Questions
You can, but they will need to be peeled and cored before using them in this recipe. Make sure to use ripe pears. I would recommend the Bartlett or Anjou varieties.
Yes, the stems are mostly there for decoration. The recipe is still delicious without them.
You can use ground cinnamon instead.
More Dessert Recipes You'll Love
Recipe Card
Spiced Pears in Puff Pastry
Ingredients
- 1 can pear halves, drained (see note)
- ¼ cup salted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, or freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated
- ½ package puff pastry, thawed (see note)
- 4 teaspoons apricot jam
- 4 pecans, cut into long pieces (for the stems)
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, or demerara sugar (optional)
Equipment
- Baking Sheet (Half Sheet Pan)
- Small Bowl
- Pastry brush, optional (you can use a spoon instead)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Place the drained pears on a paper towel to remove excess moisture.
- In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, vanilla extract, nutmeg, brown sugar and lemon zest.
- Lay a piece of parchment paper, large enough to fit your baking sheet, onto a cutting board. Unfold the puff pastry on top of the parchment, then cut it into 4 equal pieces. Lift the parchment by the edges and transfer it, along with the pastry, onto your baking sheet.
- Spoon about a teaspoon of the jam into the hollow of each pear half. Place each pear, filled side down, onto a piece of pastry, then tuck a pecan half into the top of each one to look like a stem.
- Use a knife to score lightly around each pear, without cutting completely through the pastry. This will help the pastry puff up around the fruit.
- Spread the spiced butter all over the pears and the pastry. Sprinkle the pears with half of the turbinado sugar, if using.
- Place the baking tray with the pastries in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill the dough before baking.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown. The turbinado sugar may melt and caramelize onto the buttery pears; this is normal.
- Allow the pastries to cool slightly before serving. Sprinkle the rest of the turbinado sugar over the pears to add crunch, if desired. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, or at room temperature with whipped cream.
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Notes
- If you want to use fresh pears, choose ripe Bartlett or Anjou pears. Peel and core them before you start baking.
- Demerara sugar works in place of turbinado sugar, but using these coarse sugars is optional.
- The melted butter thickens as it cools, which makes it easier to spread. I don't recommend reheating it before spreading it on the pears and pastry.
- Make sure to chill the assembled pastries for 15 minutes before baking, so they puff up properly.
- Baking times can vary by oven, so start checking for that golden colour around the 15-minute mark. These pastries can burn quickly, so keep an eye on them!
- I used a 398-millilitre can of Del Monte pears in water, which had 4 pear halves. I'm in Canada, and can sizes vary by country. A 15-ounce can in the United States should give you 4-6 pear halves.
- I used one puff pastry sheet from a 450-gram package of Irresistible butter puff pastry, which is available at Metro grocery stores in Ontario, Canada. This should be a similar size to one pastry sheet from a 490-gram package of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry in the United States.
Please read the full blog post for all of my tips, variations, and recommendations for this recipe.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate provided as a courtesy and will vary based on the specific ingredients used. For exact values, use your preferred nutritional calculator with the products you're using.
Private Notes
Have you made this recipe?
Let us know how it turned out in the comments!About Shareba
Shareba Abdul is a recipe developer and food photographer with a Culinary Arts certificate from George Brown College and 15+ years of experience creating and testing recipes for home cooks. She is also a member of the International Association for Culinary Professionals and tests every recipe on this website in her own kitchen. Learn more →
Anjana @ At The Corner Of Happy And Harried says
How pretty!
Shareba Abdul says
Thanks Anjana!
marcie says
I just saw these over at Two Cup Tuesday, and these are such a gorgeous pear dessert! Very creative and I can't wait to try them!
Shareba Abdul says
Thanks Marcie! I'm going to check out your pumpkin spice latte!
Trish - Mom On Timeout says
These are just gorgeous! Can't wait to wow some guests with this recipe 🙂
Shareba Abdul says
Thank you so much Trish! Let me know how they turn out 🙂
Sharon @ What The Fork Food Blog says
Roasted spiced pears sound SO amazing!
Shareba Abdul says
Thanks Sharon! They are really lovely, I hope you try them!